Forever Yours
by Ayii
Summary: Valiant. Starts from the end of the book. Ravus makes the mistake of asking Val to the Ball of the Courts, and sets off a strange string of events. Romance.
1. Chapter 1

"I can hold my breath."

Val blushed, and let out a blissful smile. She took the chains of the swing and began to rock back and forth gently. Ravus got up and sat on the ground, leaning against the fence behind them. Val stopped swinging, remembering that the troll could not touch the steel. She sat beside him and leaned against his shoulder.

"I..." Ravus began, then stopped.

Val waited for a moment, before nudging the troll. "You...what?"

"Never mind." He said quietly, shaking his head. "Oh, I just remembered something!" He straightened his back and looked down at Val. "I'm going away tomorrow. Just for the night. To the Ball of the Courts. I've been once or twice in the past, before I was exiled." He stroked her hair gently with his thin fingers. "Will you come?"

Val sat bolt upright, and looked straight into his gold eyes. "Really?"

"Could I lie to you?" He said seriously, for it was true: He was unable to lie.

"Of course!" Val embraced him tightly, and gave him a soft kiss. "But...what about my mother? She'll think I've run away again. She's so jumpy these days...You're lucky I'm out here now."

"Tell her you're going out with your..." He stopped himself.

"With my what? With my lover?"

It was Ravus' turn to blush. "You think of me like that?"

"Of course. Don't you?"

"I suppose."

"Anyway, I'm not introducing her to you. Not after what happened between her and my ex, Tom." Val said darkly, scowling ever so slightly. Ravus had the tact not to ask. "But I suppose if I lie and say I'm with Ruth, and she checks up on me..." Val looked up at him.

"Don't forget," Ravus told her, having the sense to guess what happened last time, "I can't betray you."

"So true...Okay. You can meet her."

"And anyway, why would she go for a grotesque green monster like me?" He chuckled.

"You are _not_ a monster!" She told him seriously.

"You humans and your lies!"

"I'm --"

Before Val could snap back, her mobile started to jangle.

"Crap. Hang on..." She said, clicking the green button. "Hello? Yeah, I'm fine, mom. With a friend. No, not Ruth. A boy. I know mom. You're meeting him tomorrow. Of course I trust you, mom! Can I go to a party with him? Mom! I'm not going to run away again, okay? I don't know. He'll walk me home. Yes, he's safe. I'll be home later. You don't have to wait up - I have a key. Love you mom, bye!" She clicked off.

"So, you can come?" Ravus asked.

Val sighed. "Yes, but do you mind wearing some glamour? Just for your skin. Me coming home with a green boyfriend right now won't be best for her "

"Sure. Anything for you."

"Well, I better get going, before she has a panic attack." Val lifted herself from the ground. Ravus got up too.

"What time will you be escorting me to the party, good sir?" She said, in a deep, posh voice.

"Anytime your majesty wants, madam." Ravus played along.

"Surprise me." She said, and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. When it was over, she whispered, without thinking, in his ear: "I love you."

A slightly awkward silence spread over them for a few moments, enough time for Val to wonder why she had said it.

"I love you too." Ravus said at last, and she knew it was true.


	2. Chapter 2

Val stiffened when she heard a knock at the door, lipstick covering only half her lips. She looked over at the clock. 7.00pm. She sighed. She had been right to get ready at 6pm: She didn't even know when Ravus was arriving.

"I'll get it!" Vals' mom called from downstairs.

Val rushed the rest of her lipstick and flew down the stairs in time to see the door being opened. Outside stood a tall, lanky boy, with jet black hair that hung to his shoulders and a dazzling smile. Val frowned; She hadn't meant for Ravus to glamour himself up so much, but he did look handsome.

Val pushed past her mom.

"Mom. This is Ravus, my urm...boyfriend." She explained.

"Hullo Mrs. Russell." Ravus said, shaking her hand.

"Hello Ravus. Such an unusual name. Where were your parents from?"

Ravus shuffled his feet awkwardly and blushed.

"Sorry mom, no time to talk. Me and Ravus better be on our way." Val said, helping Ravus out.

"Oh...of course. Sorry to keep you two love birds up. Off you go then, have fun." Her mom said, pratically pushing Val out the door.

"Bye mom!"

Once the door was closed, Ravus put his arm round her shoulder and guided her down the road. Once at the end, he turned, and gave her a long, soft kiss.

"Your mom seems nice." He said, once they'd come up for air.

"Thanks. She's alright when she wants to be." Val smiled up at him. "So where is this glamorous 'Ball of the Courts'?"

"Well, this year it's being held under Cemetery Hill." Ravus told her. "Hosted by the Unseelie Court. For one night every year, the two courts settle their differences for a celebration."

"Hmm...Sounds fun."

"It's definitely a change from being enemies with them." Ravus sighed. "I think we better head off...I need to take this glamour off before we go in."

They set off down the road, Val wrapped in Ravus' arms. Reaching the gates of the Cemetery, Ravus pushed open the gate, which groaned in protest, and ushered Val in. He took behind a gravestone and tugged at a piece of grass. It opened to reveal an entrance; jolly music floated up to them.

"You go in first. I'll follow in a minute, okay?" Ravus said.

"Are you sure? It'll be awkward for a human to walk in alone. Won't they think I'm intruding?" Val asked, worried.

"Don't worry, Val. I told them I was bringing a human. Besides, we do sometimes have humans joining us. That Luis boy joined me one year when there was a delivery to be made to a fearie in there."

"Oh...Okay, if you're sure." She said, doubtfully.

"Trust me. You'll be fine." He leaned down and kissed her. "I won't be long."

With that, Ravus got up and walked away, weaving in and out of the gravestones. Val frowned, but slipt through the entrance to the celebration below.

It was a crowd of noise. There was hardly any space to move around. Val looked around, and spotted a table swamped with food. Without thinking twice, she moved towards it. Picking up a silver goblet, encrusted with bright jewels and engraved with complicated patterns. She poured some thick red liquid from a pitcher next to her. A couple of sips told her this as not meant for the average human. She put down the goblet and looked around for Ravus.

"Hello human." Said a voice behind her. It made her skin crawl and sent a shiver down her spine. "Pretty little mortal, aren't you?" It said, and a hand fell upon her shoulder in a tight grasp.


	3. Chapter 3

_I__N REPLY TO QUEENISURALIA_**_ - _**Unfortunately there will not be anything on Roiben and Kaye, or even a reference to them. This is a Valiant FanFiction, and I believe they do not feature in it.

**DISCLAIMER** - I do not own any of the characters, places etc. in Valiant, as much as I wish I did. All original content, however, is © to me. Thank you.

_Thick leaves left their morning dew on her skin, slapping against her cold cheeks as she ran. She tripped over a tree root, but quickly regained her balance. Her breathing was harsh, her throat dry. Her eyes were stinging as the wind attacked them brutally. She chanced a look behind her, but she couldn't see anything through the dense forest. Her mind reeled as she tried to remember where she was. It was dark, and only a sliver of sunlight could slip through the canopy. Suddenly, the mud beneath her feet was tangled with dead vines. She stumbled, dropping to the ground, fear growing in her stomach. Something was coming after her what. But what... She couldn't even remember that. Then she heard the footsteps behind her, coming closer. She tried to turn her head, to open her eyes, but she seemed to be locked in place. Panic rose in her throat, her heart beating so loud she was sure it could be heard in the silent forest..._

Cold sweat drenched her, her eyes wide in terror as she awoke from her nightmare. It took a few moments for Vals' eyes to focus on her surroundings. She tried to get up from the hard mattress she found herself lying on, but something was keeping her down. Looking down at her wrists, she silver chains keeping her down. She twitched her legs; they were bound together too.

She looked around, trying to keep calm, to remember what she was doing here. Just as she had given up hope, a familiar voice came from the shadows.

"Nice of you to join us, Valerie." It was as cold as the chains keeping her down. It was male, but let out a inhuman laugh that sent shivers down her spine. "You look confused, my love."

And it came rushing back to her. Letting Ravus meet her mother, travelling to the Ball of the Courts, Ravus leaving her to go in alone; and the voice that was speaking to her.

"You...you kidnapped me!" Val shouted, suddenly red with anger, fighting her chains.

"Nice observation, human." said the voice, dripping with sarcasm.

"Where am I? What do you want from me?" She screamed. "I'm a mere human! What use can I be to you?

"Very, _very_ useful, young human."

"Stop calling me that! I do have a name, you know?" Shouted Val.

"Oh yes…such a pretty little name for a pretty little mortal. Valerie…rolls of the tongue, doesn't it? You may refer to me as Master, if you wish."

"And if I don't?"

"And if you don't, that 'pretty little name' of yours will be written on a gravestone right in this very cemetery sooner than you thought."

Valerie suppressed a sigh of relief; relief that she still lay in the cemetery, or under it, and so the chances of Ravus finding her were better than they would be if this voice had taken her somewhere else.

"May I see you, _Master_?" Val asked sourly.

"As much as I would love to show you the face of your kidnapper, alas, I cannot, or at least, not yet. You should know by now; patience is virtue. All will be clear in good time, Valerie Russell."

"I want to know now!" Her voice rang out, ricocheting off the walls. "You at least owe me that!"

But the room was empty. The voice, and indeed his owner, had gone, and Val was alone.


End file.
